West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-02-11
A DANGEROUS BILL.

1t requires but q moments reflec-
ton to understand that a railroad
company should be restricted to the
legitimate business of common
carrier. 1t is evidently impossible
for any individual to compete with
an enterprise owned by railroad
company. For example, ifa company
owns coal mine or saw mill,a COM
peting business on its line cannot OBJ
tain equal access to market.
Our general railroad law is Us lib
eral as that of any other State and
is far more liberal than that which
generally prevails. 1t gives to a
company every power and privilege
that can possibly promote the legit-
innate business of railroad compa-
ny: but our law, very wisely, does
not permit the person in possession
of highway to engage in those in
dustries which ought to be left to
individual enterprise and which are
not connected with the business of
q common carrier.
The Legislature of 1881, very I'M
wisely and very improvidently, a.
mended the special charter which
was granred in 1866 to the Potomac
and Piedmont railroad company.
This corporation was given, Tin adj
dition to the powers ordinarily pos
sessed by such corporations the
unusual and dangerous power Of
conducting almost every enterprise
prosecuted by an individual. 1t
may carry on the business Of mining
coal. building factories, saw-mills,
furnaces, burning brick, manufac-
turing lumber and, astonishing to
relate, it has the right to buy and
sell real estate. 1t is the only rail
road company, probably, in the civil
lied world which has the power to
speculate in land without limitation
or regulation.
The sixth section Of the Act of
1881 authorizes the company, with,
out limit us to time, TO construct
railroads from any point on the b.
& o., along the waters of the Cheat,
Tygart's Valley and Greenbrler riv-
ers, and of extending its road to the
Chesapeake d. Ohio. Senate Bill
50, now pending in the Legislature,
seeks TO still further amend the
charter of this corporation and pro-
poses to still further enlarge the ter
ritory which is to be subjected to the
extraordinary powers heretofore Civ
en- to the Potomac and Piedmont
Company and to anthorizeit to con.
struct, at its pleasure, any Number
of roads in almost every county be-
tween Mineral and Charleston.
If the parties interested in the
Potomac and Piedmont desire to ex-
tend their road, the general law
gives them every facility for doing
SO. Section 80, chapter II, of the
Acts of 1881, enables any five per-
sons to constitute themselves a rail-
road company; they can condemn
the right of way and may condemn
whatever land is required to build
any road they have mind to. Daw-
sons road from Kingwood to Tun-
Melton, the Grafton IL Greenbrier,
the Ohio River, and all our new
roads, except the Potomac and Pied
mont, were constructed under this
general law and its provisions have
been found adequate to every de-
mani. The object of our constitu-
ton is to prevent one person or one
corporation from obtaining privil-
eyes denied 10 another, and it ex-
pressly prohibits special charter
whenever general law can be made
applicable. There is not the slight
est difficulty in the way of these gen.
tlemen building whatever roads they
please and the purpose of the amend
ment now offered is apparent. They
wish to notify the world that they
have a charter, granting extraordi-
nary and unprecedented privileges,
privileges which no other company
can acquire, and that this charter
covers and pre-occupies the greater
part of the most valuable territory
in West Virginia. IfSenate Bill So
becomes law, then the persons who
own the stock in the Potomac and
Piedmont will be given the monopo-
ly Of constructing railroads within
the vast territory named and which